8/13: MetroIntelligence Economic Update by P. DUFFY

July core Producer Price Index shows first decline since October 2015

The ‘core’ Producer Price Index for final demand less foods, energy, and trade services fell 0.1 percent in July — the first decrease since October 2015 – but was up 1.7 percent year-on-year. However, the overall Producer Price Index for final demand advanced 0.2 percent in July, and was also up 1.7 year-on-year.

In the latest quarterly Wells Fargo/Gallup Small Business Index survey, conducted July 8-12, 2019, the overall index is +136, up from the +129 recorded in Quarter 2. More broadly, small-business owners’ optimism about their financial outlook over the next year has also improved, with 79% now saying they are more optimistic than pessimistic — up from 70% in Quarter 2.

The mortgage-interest deduction, a beloved tax break bound tightly to the American dream of homeownership, once seemed politically invincible. Then it nearly vanished in middle-class neighborhoods across the country, and it appears that hardly anyone noticed.